Advances in techniques such as micromachining and planar processing have enabled the manufacture of a wide variety of transducers which can be used in all fields of industry ranging from electronic devices, optics, biotechnology, solar to the medical device field. These transducers, which include ultrasound, thermal, optical and mechanical devices, have enabled a vast array of sensing and energy conversion applications. Conventionally the transducers used in such applications are made separately to the device in which they are ultimately used. A need therefore exists for a method for attaching transducers to the devices in which they are used. One example of this need arises in the medical device field as described in currently unpublished PCT application PCT/IB2015/052425. In this, a piezoelectric sensor that is manufactured using lamination and deposition processes must be attached to a medical device for use in an ultrasound-based tracking application. This need may be aggravated by the need to transfer an essentially planar device to a curved surface, such as the shaft of a catheter or needle.
A document “Fabrication of Flexible Transducer Arrays With Through-Wafer Electrical Interconnects Based on Trench Refilling With PDMS” by Xuefeng Zhuang et al, JOURNAL OF MICROELECTROMECHANICAL SYSTEMS, VOL. 17, NO. 2, APRIL 2008 discloses a technique for wrapping a flexible transducer array around a catheter tip for use in a side-looking ultrasound imaging application. The disclosed technique includes the construction of flexible capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducer (CMUT) arrays by forming polymer-filled deep trenches in a silicon substrate. Tweezers are subsequently used to wrap the flexible transducer around the circular cross section of the catheter tip.
Document US2010/0200538A1 discloses the fabrication of an analyte sensor component that includes an inorganic substrate having deposited thereon a release layer, a first flexible dielectric layer and a second flexible dielectric layer insulating there between electrodes, contact pads and traces connecting the electrodes and the contact pads of a plurality of sensors. Openings are provided in one of the dielectric layers over one or more of the electrodes to receive an analyte sensing membrane for the detection of an analyte of interest and for electrical connection with external electronics. The plurality of fabricated sensor components are lifted off the inorganic substrate.
Document US2015/0126834A1 relates to the fabrication of electrochemical biosensors and chemical sensors. An epidermal biosensor includes an electrode pattern that is formed on a coated surface of a paper-based substrate to provide an electrochemical sensor. The electrode pattern includes an electrically conductive material and an electrically insulative material configured in a particular design layout. An adhesive sheet is attached on a surface of the electrochemical sensor having the electrode pattern, the adhesive sheet capable of adhering to skin or a wearable item, in which the electrochemical sensor, when attached to the skin or the wearable item, is operable to detect chemical analytes within an external environment.
The present invention seeks to address drawbacks of the above and other known solutions to this and related needs.